4 | FEBRUARY 11 - 17, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
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‘Student Body’ class of horror being led by women, including Worcester’s Sandra Leviton Richard Duckett Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
In the thriller/horror movie “Student Body” (which became available for purchase on digital platforms like Amazon, iTunes, and Apple TV on Feb. 8), the chills are compounded by the claustrophobic setting of Allendale Preparatory High School. Its privileged students are so well protected that it can be impossible to actually break out of the school when danger threatens. Which is what happens when fi ve students who have stayed after school to play a prank fi nd themselves suddenly being hunted down by a costumed, sledge hammer-wielding psycho with the school doors and windows all closed and smash proof, unlike their heads. But on another level, “Student Body” is a breakout horror movie in a far more encouraging respect. The fi lm’s protagonist, student Jane Shipley (played by Montse Hernandez), the writer, director and co-producer Lee Ann Kurr, and co-producers Rachel Liu and Sandra Leviton, are all women. Leviton, who is originally from Worcester, has an extensive background in producing and development and is the founder of the Under The Stairs Entertainment production company, said she had been “looking for some strong projects, female-driven works.” She likes horror fi lms, and had seen an early draft of the screenplay for “Student Body” that Kurr, a writer and director
Producers Rachel Liu,left, and Sandra Leviton on the set of “Student Body.” SUBMITTED
whose background includes theater and short fi lms, had sent to her. Liu, a fi lmmaker and producer who also grew up near these parts in Massachusetts in Dover-Sherborn, said she met Kurr while working on another project and also got to read “Student Body.”
“I absolutely loved it. It felt so real to me, and so resonant,” she said. Then Liu and Leviton met — they both now live in California — and there was a meeting of minds. “I don’t know many other female producers in horror,” Liu said.
Leviton noted that she and Liu shared a taste for a lot of the same things, including appreciating the merits of the draft of “Student Body.” “It spoke to me on so many levels,” she said. Soon they were on a Zoom conference call with Kurr about “Student Body.” Kurr would di-
rect and be a co-producer (her fi rst full feature movie directing), with Liu and Leviton working together as producers for the fi rst time. “From our perspective we think there’s a really important message in this movie. We See STUDENT BODY, Page 5
